Millcreek, PA Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

Article V of Chapter 40 of the Millcreek Township Code governs outdoor burning, and the Board of Supervisors wrote it to cover cooking fires, recreational fires, bonfires and fires in portable outdoor fireplaces. The Code does not use the word smoker, so the working question is whether your smoker is a cooking fire. Section 40-32 defines a cooking fire as outdoor burning, other than prohibited materials, not exceeding three feet in diameter and two feet in height, in which the fuel is contained in an outdoor fireplace, a barbecue grill or a barbecue pit for the purpose of cooking food.

Section 40-35 authorizes cooking fires without a permit. The fire must be in an approved container and must meet § 40-33A and B: a competent person of at least 16 years of age must constantly attend and monitor it, and an extinguishing agent such as water, sand or a fire extinguisher must be immediately available. Section 40-35D caps the fuel load at a space three feet in diameter and two feet in height. Section 40-35E sets the location: not less than 15 feet from any structure and 15 feet from any property line, with provisions made to keep the fire from spreading to within those distances, unless the article says otherwise or the Department of Code Enforcement directs otherwise. Cooking fires are not permitted on balconies or porches of multi-residential structures unless the balconies, decks and structures are protected by an automatic sprinkler system.

Section 40-34C bars burning prohibited materials, meaning garbage, food waste, refuse and similar solid waste, in cooking fires. Under § 40-33C the Fire Code Official can impose a temporary ban on all outdoor burning, and burning any materials during a ban is unlawful. Section 40-39 authorizes the Fire Code Official to order a fire extinguished if it creates or adds to a hazardous situation. Section 40-37 requires a permit for covered burning that § 40-35 does not exempt.